JERUSALEM: Israel’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a key member of the country’s new government cannot serve as a Cabinet minister.
The move deepens a rift over the power of the courts in Israel and presents Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with what could be his first coalition crisis.
The high court ruled that Aryeh Deri, the influential head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party who has served repeatedly in Netanyahu’s previous governments, is disqualified from serving as a minister after he was convicted last year for tax offenses and placed on probation as part of a plea deal.
The much-anticipated ruling comes as Israel is being roiled by a dispute over sweeping changes to the country’s legal system, which critics say will place too much power in the hands of the government and weaken the Supreme Court. Proponents say it will correct a power imbalance between the executive and judicial branches.
Israeli Supreme Court says minister barred over tax offenses
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Israeli Supreme Court says minister barred over tax offenses
- The high court ruled that Aryeh Deri is disqualified from serving as a minister after he was convicted last year for tax offenses
Syrian, Iraqi authorities seize 300,000 Captagon pills in Homs
- Two suspects are wanted internationally for drug trafficking, and one of them is a foreign national
LONDON: Syria’s Narcotics Department, in collaboration with Iraq’s General Directorate for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Affairs, thwarted an attempt to smuggle drugs across the border.
The Interior Ministry announced on Thursday a joint security operation targeting an international criminal network in the Homs governorate of northern Syria, involved in the manufacture, promotion and smuggling of narcotics.
Authorities seized about 300,000 tablets of the narcotic substance Captagon and arrested two suspects attempting to smuggle these substances into Syria to distribute them in the region later.
The two suspects are wanted internationally for drug trafficking, and one of them is a foreign national, according to the ministry.
In January, authorities in Syria and Iraq targeted an international drug smuggling network, leading to the seizure of about 2.5 million Captagon pills and the arrest of several individuals in both countries involved in criminal activity.
